The national food supply chain is having demands placed on it like never before. Shoppers around the country have been filling their pantries and stocking up on food and supplies, producing long lines and empty shelves. Your Chico Natural Foods Cooperative has experienced this recent increase in consumer demand, while at the same time working with the exact same food sourcing network that we had prior to the spread of COVID-19. We want you, our shoppers and owners, to know exactly what’s going on in the Co-op, and what Co-op staff our doing to make sure that we can keep folks healthy and nourished.
We are working closely with all our distributors to source the most sought-after and necessary products. At the moment, all our primary distributors are dealing with a massive, nationwide spike in demand. Therefore, you will see some items out of stock on Co-op shelves, sometimes for longer than we’d like. We are doing everything in our power to minimize the out-of-stocks and to make sure that there is always good, healthy food at the Co-op.
Our Managers and Buyers are exploring alternative sourcing. We’re reaching out to local and regional producers to try and source products we can’t get from national distributors. We are looking into brands and varieties of product that we don’t normally carry to see if they can replace (if only temporarily) existing brands that are unavailable through regular channels.
We are temporarily suspending our special order program. We love our special order program. We are delighted to be the source of so much affordable, convenient food for our shoppers. However, with the limitations put on us and our suppliers by the current state of the grocery industry, we have to temporarily suspend all special orders. We hope to be able to restart the program soon, but we are going to wait until sourcing is predictable, reliable, and sufficient until we start taking special orders.
We are temporarily altering our return policy. In the interest of protecting our staff and shoppers, we are temporarily not accepting any returns at the Co-op. We hope to be able to accept returns again soon.
We are temporarily putting purchase limits on specific, high-demand products. In the interest of equal opportunity and egalitarianism, we will be limiting how many units of certain products can be purchased in one transaction. We are being very strategic as to which items will be limited in this manner. These are certain high-demand items, and we want to make sure that as many people as possible have access to them. Please know that we will eliminate these limits as soon as soon as possible.
We are temporarily ending our acceptance of reusable bags and containers. This one hurts, but it is in the best interest of our customers and staff. We are no longer allowing customers to bring their own reusable bags, cups, containers, and canteens into the Co-op. All groceries will be packed in new bags or new boxes from the Co-op. All drinks must be put into clean, single-use cups. It hurts our eco-conscious souls to do this, but we must prioritize the health and well-being of the people in our store. You better believe we’re going to be eager to roll this rule back once it’s prudent to do so.
We are in an unprecedented and highly unusual situation. Please rest assured that Co-op staff are doing everything we can to ensure that you have access to as much high-quality, healthy food as is possible during these challenging times. We ask that you be patient and kind with Co-op employees, and know that we want to get back to having shelves full of product just as much as you do.
Thank you for being a part of the Co-op. Solidarity, kindness, and good work will get us through this.